


Waltz

by wolfgun



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Wedding, but still with space things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 23:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7458328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfgun/pseuds/wolfgun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, if you must know, the name’s Lance.” Keith watched him stand, frowning slightly as the teen stepped in front of him. The boy held out a hand. “And, if you want to know, I came over to ask for a dance.”</p><p>[At Shay and Hunk's wedding, Keith runs into a bit of a problem.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waltz

Keith turned in the mirror, pulling at his hair and loosening his tie. He sighed, facing his reflection, and yet again, trying to tame a stray piece of hair in front of his eyes. Shiro had been trying to get him to cut his hair for the last week, but he had obviously ignored that. And now he was paying the consequences.

 

“You ready?” Shiro called, from somewhere in the apartment. Keith frowned, looking over himself. He looked like some kid rescued a stray cat off the street in the rain and put a bow on it, in an attempt to convince their parents to keep it. Like that shit ever worked.

 

“Why the hell do I have to go, anyway?” He stomped heavily out of the bathroom, crossing his arms. Shiro just smiled at him from the hallway.

 

“It’s Shay and Hunk’s wedding, an important political statement, and you’re a pilot. Why wouldn’t you go?”

 

“Well I barely know the two of them. I mean, sure, Shay and I were in the same classes in university but… I don’t even know Hunk.” He pulled at his tie. Shiro had picked it out; it was a silk red and black floral pattern. “And you _know_ what I have to say about ‘political statements.’”

 

“Keith. Come on,” Shiro walked up to him, smoothing out the front of his jacket and reaching to fix the tie. “Live a little. One night at a wedding won’t kill you.”

 

“...It’ll come pretty damn close,” he mumbled, awkwardly raising his chin to give Shiro’s hands some room.

 

{--+--}

 

The two arrived at the party right on time (thanks to Shiro of course) and were immediately greeted by a thick crowd of people. Some human, some not.

 

Despite being a pilot--one of the best in the Alliance, Keith still hadn’t picked up some qualities that were.. _becoming_ of someone pretty high profile. He totally would not have showed. That was, however, due largely to the fact that he had to _weave_ and _push_ through the density of bodies that now surrounded him to move even an inch.

 

Keith’s eyes flicked from person to person, finding himself intrigued by the sheer amount of diversity among the faces. There were of course, Balmerans, but since this was the first official interspecies union, the wedding had the attention of the Galactic Alliance. That made for, in Keith’s words, _a fuck ton of people._

 

Some purple, some blue, some scaley, some with tails, others with six eyes. Every color of the rainbow, and then more; at least one representative from every planet that had a peaceful relation with Earth.

 

Since Shay was also a pilot for the Alliance, this was an elite gathering. Not _just_ interspecies marriage, but also a statement for the militia. Keith was rigid; while it was _cool_ to see what the different cosmos had to show for life, there was no disputing the fact that it still made him uncomfortable.

 

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, and Keith twitched.

 

“At ease,” he murmured, casting a soft smile down at the younger man. Keith only looked away, setting his jaw.

 

Eventually, they found Shay; standing with Hunk in the center of the ballroom, amid greetings and handshakes and congratulations. Keith followed Shiro up, bouncing awkwardly on his heels as he waited.

 

“Keith! Thank you so very much for coming!” Shay ran forward, enveloping him in a tight hug. He could barely react, instead getting swept up by the Balmeran.

 

“Y-Yeah! Don’t mention it.” He cleared his throat, stumbling slightly as he landed back on the ground. “There’s, uh--a lotta people here. You two sure have your hands full, huh?”

 

“Yeah, that’s for sure…” Hunk stepped forward, looking very flustered, casting wary glances around him. “Anyway, I’m Hunk, as you probably know--”

 

“Keith,” he said, shaking Hunk’s hand. Hunk nodded.

 

“I’ve heard about you. Both you and Shiro.” Keith smiled.

 

“Yeah.” It wasn’t uncommon for him and Shiro to be referred to in the same sentence. They were adoptive brothers, after all.

 

After that exchange, they were pushed away by the flow of the crowd and found a table to sit down at. Keith sighed, resting his chin on his palm, propping his head up. He looked lazily about the room, trying to see if there were any other humans.

 

“Why, hello!” Keith glanced to his left, and gazed upward to meet a pair of sparkling blue and purple and _pink?_ eyes. He blinked, his own irises cold and gray and stoney. “My name is Allura, of the planet Altea.”

 

Keith straightened, holding out his hand. “Uh, I’m Keith--Combat pilot for the Alliance.” He turned his head to Shiro, pleading with the other to step in.

 

“Shirogane Takashi, Commander of the Alliance Battalion Ships.” Allura’s eyes lit up. “Keith here is a candidate for the Voltron Project.”

 

“Ah, yes! Wonderful! I have heard much about you both.” Her smile was as dazzling as her dress, skin dark and beautiful. It seemed to shimmer under the lights in the ballroom. “My people have been in close contact with yours about the process considering Voltron.” Shiro nodded.

 

“The pact does state that Earth and you of Altea will be the keepers and directors of Voltron.”

 

“You are to become the Black Paladin, are you not?” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

 

“Ah, that’s… I am, but of course the Black Lion has to choose me.” Allura nodded, then looked him over.

 

“I believe we will be in good hands with you at the helm, Commander.” Her gaze floated over to Keith, and she contemplated him for a moment. “You, too, have a fire that burns with the intensity of a thousand suns. A worthy candidate for the Red Lion, if any.” A moustached man with bright orange hair and similar markings under his eyes tapped on her shoulder.

 

“Princess, we have more guests that wish to meet you.”

 

“Yes, of course!” She clapped her hands together. “Well, good luck to both of you in these times. We know not when Zarkon will strike, so be on your guards. Train hard.” She was led away.

 

“Ugh. Shiro, I hate this. I thought the fact that you and I were candidates was a secret.”

 

“It is. She’s the head of the Voltron project; her late father is the one who devised the whole thing.”

 

“I… She was loud about it. That’s all I’m saying.” Shiro’s lips tugged into an awkward smile, and he shrugged his shoulders.

 

The night passed in an excruciatingly painful way. Excruciating. Like, as if Keith was a snail and someone was sprinkling salt on him, then washing it off. And then salting him again. Over and over. It even proceeded at a snail’s pace, making his imagined metaphor even more amusing.

 

At some point, Shiro was pulled away to talk with some officials, and Keith didn’t see him for a good amount of time, hidden in the graying hairs of the older men. He was surprised when Shiro walked back over to the table with a sigh, almost flopping down in a chair. Keith raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“Politics,” he groaned, running his hand through his hair. Keith just sipped the nunville in front of him, glad he wasn’t a part of it. For as much as Shiro complained about politics, though, he was good at it. He knew the exact things to say, at the right time. Uncanny, really. How torturous.

 

Keith knew the Balmerans had odd traditions, but he certainly wasn’t expecting Hunk and Shay to have to eat the bugs collected from her home on the Balmera. At Least Hunk didn’t throw up in front of everyone. It made Keith want to hurl just looking at the way they squirmed and… he glared at the floor as the two newly weds gulped it down.

 

After the actual ceremony was over, the officials began to leave. Excuses here, excuses there… until it was really only a handful of the closest representatives in the Alliance and family members. Keith watched Shiro get tugged away again, waving him off with a smirk as the latter sent him an exhausted look.

 

He continued his scan for human life, but was only met with Hunk’s family. He didn’t know Hunk, so instead he opted to stay put; alone. Which was what he was used to anyway; but it still made him feel awkward about sitting by himself. Grumbling about how boring this shit was, he discarded his suit jacket and laid it on the table. 

 

Shay and Hunk were dancing together on the ballroom floor, and Keith regarded them for a brief moment. He observed their soft smiles, the way Shay giggled as Hunk twirled her around; he found himself smiling as well. He caught sight of Shay’s brother watching them with a barely disguised frown, and Keith chuckled under his breath. At least his night wasn’t as bad as that guy’s.

 

He sighed, checking his phone for the time, and then glancing around to locate Shiro. Hopefully, he could convince the older pilot to leave soon. His gaze scanned the crowd, but he paused abruptly as a foreign human figure interrupted him. Keith tried to look past him, but he moved again in the way, so he relented.

 

“Do you _need_ something?”

 

“That’s a pretty dull greeting, don’t you think?” The guy looked to be about Keith’s age, but was taller (to Keith’s chagrin), had shorter hair, and darker, tanned skin. It contrasted the blue suit he was wearing. It looked good, to say the least. Cute, even. He desperately pushed that thought away.

 

“That’s because it _wasn’t_ a greeting.” He huffed, leaning back in his chair. Shiro was probably too busy to leave right now anyway. Politics never sleeps.

 

“Ooh, that’s cold.” Despite Keith’s best ability to ooze discontent with the person in front of him, the teen sat down beside him. “So, which side?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Which side are you here for?”

 

“You mean the--”

 

“Bride or Groom?”

 

“...Bride,” Keith muttered, casting a glance over to where Shay was dancing with Hunk.

 

“Huuuhh… that’s surprising. I’m here for the big bear.”

 

“Hunk?”

 

“Yep. But you don’t seem like the type to be friends with a person as good as Shay.”

 

“And you don’t seem like the type to get anywhere near a person as studious as Hunk,” Keith countered. The guy looked comically hurt.

 

“What!? Someone like me, as handsome and charming as I am? _Not_ friends with Hunk? Why, that’s--”

 

“Why are you over here anyway?” Keith hastily cut him off, annoyed at how he had initially thought this guy was cute. _Cute._ The way he ran his mouth wasn’t cute.

 

“You looked alone and scared with all these aliens around, so I came to your rescue,” he said, leaning in with an elbow on the table, legs crossed. Keith scoffed.

 

“Oh, right. Like _I_ need saving. It seems like _you_ came over _here_ to run away from something.”

 

“Um! Excuse me, nope. You are _totally_ wrong. Hunk’s family is _nice_ and _perfect_ and the rock people are very,” he paused. “Uh. _solid._ ” Keith rolled his eyes.

 

“Yeah. Nice cover up.”

 

“I assure you, their bugs are very sweet. Like them. You could learn a lesson or two, absorb some of that sugar for your terrible, bitter personality.”

 

“That’s great.” Keith bristled, glaring at the crowd, ignoring the last bit of his comment. Maybe if he didn’t engage, the pest would float away.

 

“Did you even try the bugs?”

 

“Do I _look_ like I wanna shove a squirming alien form down my throat?” His face went dead as the other boy opened his mouth. “Don’t.”

 

“Well, I was gonna say, actually; you were looking around the ballroom for _something_.”

 

“Yeah. My brother.”

 

“Brother?”

 

“Shiro.”

 

“Ah, right. You--” The teen immediately took a second glance, his voice raising an octave. “Wait, Shiro? You mean, _the Shiro?_ Of the--”

 

“Yes, yes. My brother, Shirogane Takashi, Commander of the Battalion. Yes, okay?” Keith couldn’t help the annoyance that slipped into his voice.

 

“So, that would make you…”

 

“Keith.”

 

“Just Keith? No last name?” When Keith sighed, he continued. “You can’t tell me someone with eyes as pretty as yours doesn’t have a last name.” Keith’s head snapped up, and he felt heat beginning to creep up towards his face. He quickly looked away.

 

“Th-that’s none of your business. You--who are _you?”_ He almost instantly regretted asking.

 

 _“Well,_ if you must know, the name’s Lance.” Keith watched him stand, frowning slightly as the teen stepped in front of him. The boy held out a hand. “And, if you want to know, I came over to ask for a _dance._ ”

 

“No way.” Keith turned his head, refusing to meet the other’s gaze, his face surely on fire by now. “That was terrible.”

 

“What the hell man, _I_ thought it was pretty clever!”

 

“That’s because you suck at pickup lines.”

 

“What--Hey, I _do not_ suck! You’re just unappreciative.” Lance retracted his hand and folded his arms. “Excuse me if you’re attractive and I wanna dance with you, damn, have fun sitting on your ass doing _nothing._ ” Keith spluttered a bit at that.

 

“You--”

 

“Come on!” Lance put his hands on either side of the chair, wrists brushing Keith’s shoulders. Their eyes locked, and Lance smirked at the flush he saw there. “I’m bored as hell. Obviously, you are too. There’s music on, why not--”

 

“I--I _don’t know how to dance!”_ Keith hissed, gritting his teeth and pushing the other teen away. Lance just took his hand and yanked him upwards. He gave a cocky, lopsided grin.

 

“Well then it’s good I’m awesome enough for the both of us.”

 

“No, no--no!” Keith fought the hold on his wrist, trying to pry it off. Lance just gave him the most shit-eating grin. “I swear to god, I will literally bust my ass--and you’ll go down with me, you complete and utter asshole!”

 

“At least we’ll go down together.” Lance winked at him, and Keith was _definitely_ not flustered by that. Nope. He wasn’t.

 

He was practically dragged onto the dance floor, dress shoes having no traction. Keith tried to twist out of the vice grip, but was thwarted when Lance grabbed his other wrist.

 

“Stop being such a baby.” Lance stopped the two of them, and guided Keith’s hand to his shoulder, the other on his waist. Keith groaned softly, rolling his eyes and hanging his head.

 

“You. You are _so_ going to regret this.”

 

“Mmm…” Lance took a minute to regard this, brown eyes glittering. “I don’t think I will.”

 

He stepped in closer, making their height difference apparent; Keith would be lying if he said it wasn’t attractive. He wanted to punch that smirk right off Lance’s face.

 

“Okay. So this is what you’re going to do; just step on the tips of my toes, and I’ll guide us. Got that?” Keith huffed, shaking his head slightly, a bit light-headed by how close they were.

 

“You--I’m not light,” he growled, but stepped forward anyway. Lance just flashed his teeth in a smile.

 

“I can take it.”

 

And then they were moving; Keith was impossibly rigid, unused to being guided. He didn’t know how painful him stepping on Lance’s toes was, but it definitely couldn’t be pleasant. Keith focused on their feet, watching Lance step in a square.

 

“Uh--this, what’s--what’re you doing?”

 

“ _We_ are dancing what’s called a waltz,” Lance said, breath rushing out over the shell of Keith’s ear. “Typical for any classical ball.”

 

After a while, Keith relaxed; he fell into Lance’s rhythm and found it… actually nice. Maybe he _was_ cute after all. Maybe.

 

“Having fun?” Lance spoke softly, but his mouth was right beside his ear; it jolted Keith from his daze. He startled, not remembering just when he had closed his eyes. He felt the heat on his ears intensify.

 

“You aren’t as shitty at this as I thought you were going to be,” Keith admitted. He tried to raise his head, but Lance’s fingers moved from his shoulder into the baby hairs on the back of his neck. Lance hummed, while Keith had to fight the sensation of goosebumps and also his consciousness, screaming at him. Fucking hell.

 

They had drifted closer in the time that Keith had closed his eyes; his chin was now almost directly over Lance’s shoulder, and he could feel hot breath disturbing the skin of his ears and rustling the hair just above it. It filled his chest with a red-hot sensation; both irritation… and something else. He was pretty sure Lance was doing it on purpose.

 

The music changed into a different arrangement of instruments, and Lance’s pace slowed down.

 

“So, Keith; something tells me you’re the type to skip these kinda gatherings.” Keith let out a huff of a laugh.

 

“You guessed right. I was looking for Shiro earlier so we could bail. I didn’t wanna come.” He didn’t really know why he was telling this to Lance, but figured, _fuck it._

 

“But despite all that, would you say this night was a total loss?” He could hear the challenge in the lilt of Lance’s voice, and grimaced as his cheeks burned again.

 

“You… want my honest answer, or my dishonest answer?”

 

“Either one.” Keith considered this for a moment.

 

“Not a total loss, but it’s like. You know, second to last.” He smirked as he heard Lance dramatically sigh.

 

“Ouch. And here I thought I had managed to brighten up your night with my presence.”

 

Keith was quiet as they swayed from side to side, contemplating what he actually felt. Lance’s hands were irons on his skin; a similar sensation to the one in his chest. It was a while before one of them spoke again.

 

“Keith, huh? The same Keith who pilots for the Alliance?” Keith frowned. “A prodigy, one of the best pilots that ever graced the ranks of human space combat. Takashi Shirogane’s younger adoptive brother, who--”

 

“I didn’t ask for a life summary, _Lance,”_ Keith snapped, his grip tightening considerably.

 

“Cool it, hotshot. You just won’t tell me about yourself, so I thought I’d tell you what I know.”

 

Keith glared past Lance. He licked his lips, chewing on the bottom one for a moment.

 

“...You never asked.”

 

“Would you tell me?”

 

Lance had stopped, pushing the shorter teen an arm’s length away, still holding his shoulder. He trapped Keith in a stare. After a brief moment of fidgeting and a huff, he broke the contact.

 

“What do you want to know, anyway?”

 

“I want to know if you’re going to be a pilot for Voltron.” Keith straightened, mouth opening and shutting again, no words coming out.

 

“I--I mean, maybe? Probably?” Hell if he knew. It would be great to be able to do that with Shiro, but still, he… He had issues.

 

“Not that confident, are you?”

 

“Well it’s--” His arms dropped from Lance to cross defensively over his chest.

 

“I don’t blame you--with that haircut, anyone would be self conscious.” Lance had on that shitty grin again, and Keith immediately bristled.

 

“I don’t decide if I want to pilot it. It chooses me,” he snapped, glowering. Cute, his ass.

 

“Well, even so--I’m going to be chosen.” Lance looked so utterly confident in that fact, that Keith was taken aback. He blinked a couple times before responding.

 

“You… you’re sure? Wait--you’re a candidate?”

 

“I’ll get chosen.” He smiled at Keith. “And I have a feeling you will too.” Keith’s eyebrows bunched together in momentary confusion, and he pursed his lips.

 

“Keith?” He jumped at Shiro’s voice behind him, and he abruptly spun around, breaking away from Lance completely. “Who’s this?”

 

“Uh--This is--”

 

“My name’s Lance. Nice to meet you, Commander.” He stepped swiftly forward to shake Shiro’s hand.

 

“Ah, you’re one of the candidates. So is Keith.” Shiro cast a questioning glance at the other teen, one that Keith adamantly ignored.

 

“And I hear you are as well, sir.”

 

“Yes. It’s really a privilege.”

 

“Yeah. It’s pretty wild stuff, y’know-- _Defenders of the Universe_ and all that.”

 

“That it is. It’s a great responsibility. Hunk is being considered as well, right? And he just got married. A lot of things are coming together.” The two stepped away, breaking the handshake.

 

“Aaaand on that note, Shiro, we have to go. Like, right now. Immediately.” Keith tugged on Shiro’s jacket, and the two of them headed away. Lance waved, but only Shiro returned it.

 

“So, Keith… What was that?”

 

He huffed, feeling his face burn again. “... What do you mean?”

 

“Well… you two danced. Really closely. Like, _really--”_

 

 _“Alright_ I get it, Shiro.” Shit. Shiro had seen that? “He dragged me onto the floor against my will.”

 

“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.” Keith stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned.

 

“Takashi. I was _not_ enjoying myself. I swear, he put me under some kind of spell-- _forced_ me to dance with him, I was not having fun; he made me step on his toes, who does that!? I mean, I probably hurt him and yet he just smiled through it! So what, he’s a good dancer; that doesn’t mean jack shit! I swear, Shiro--”

 

“Keith, you are _not_ helping your case.” Shiro smirked at the younger man.

 

“Wh-whatever. He talks too much and is obnoxious and annoying. I don’t like him.”

 

“I dunno, Keith. Seems like your type.” Shiro raised his hands in surrender as Keith wheeled on him.

 

The pair said their goodbyes to Hunk and Shay, and were about to walk out the door when they were stopped by a familiarly loud and irritating voice, yelling at them from down the hall. Keith turned to see Lance sprinting towards them.

 

“Hey! Wait, Keith! Stop, you forgot--” He stumbled over a stair, regaining his balance and skidding to a stop in front of Keith. “Jacket. Your jacket.”

 

Keith blinked, then took the offering from Lance, who was smirking up at him.

 

“Th-thanks,” he said, haltingly. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Lance’s smirk was more devious than genuine. As if a smirk was ever good news, though.

 

“No problem. I’ll talk to you later.” He saluted Shiro, before promptly turning on his heel and walking away. Or well… more like sauntering. Or swaggering. It also could be called looking like a tool.

 

“Come on, let’s go.” Shiro touched his shoulder, snapping Keith out of whatever spell Lance had cast, and walked outside towards the cruiser that would take them back to their apartment.

 

Keith jumped slightly as his phone went off, and he reached into his jacket pocket to find that he had one new text message. Which was fucking weird, because the only people he texted were Pidge and Shiro, and Pidge was deep in his own project, meaning no outside contact unless Keith wandered into his cave. Shiro was right next to him, driving the cruiser.

 

He unlocked the phone to see that it had come from someone named “Guy of my Dreams” with both a blue heart emoji and a shooting star, and suddenly he had a feeling that this was what that smirk was all about.

 

He opened the text window, and almost choked when he saw what was there.

 

>>>To: Guy of my Dreams

that really hot dude that you danced with at Hunk’s wedding. don’t lose his number.

 

>>>From: Guy of my Dreams

got it

 

Keith covered his face with his hand, knowing that his face was as red as his tie. He sighed, sinking into his seat. Shiro looked over briefly from the driver’s seat.

 

“Romance trouble?” Keith just whacked his arm with the sleeve of his suit jacket.

 

“...Shut up,” he groaned. Just staring at that stupid thumbs up emoji at the end of Lance's reply made his face even hotter. Stupid, stupid.

 

And in a couple weeks, they would be conducting tests for the candidacy of Voltron together.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am not sure if I'm gonna continue this! Probably not, lmfao. Depends. I still have to work on the other fic I have ongoing atm. Because I've been slacking.


End file.
